Before Instagram videos and immersive cinemas had their part to play in the audio-visual landscape, the phenakistoscope – an early animation apparatus developed by Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau in 1829, was the device du jour. It tended to take the form of a spinning disc, adorned with small illustrations, which was attached to a vertical handle, and depicted a small animation when turned.
The fame of the phenakistoscope lasted only two years, due to the rapid…
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